Methods and Techniques - Dating Techniques - Radiocarbon Dating Problems and Perils

Aravena, R., B. G. Warner, G. M. MacDonald, and K. I. Hanf 1992

Carbon Isotope Composition of Lake Sediments in Relation to Lake Productivity and Radiocarbon Dating. Quaternary Research 37:333-345.
AEU SCI QE 696 Q24 Deals with Toboggan Lake (Alberta) and Chesney Bog (Ontario).

Arnold, L. D. 1995

Conventional Radiocarbon Dating. In Dating Methods for Quaternary Deposits, edited by N. W. Rutter and N. R. Catto, pp. 107-115. GeoText2. Geological Association of Canada, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.
AEU SCI QE 696 D38 1995 A review article describing the method and some of the constraints and analytical problems.

Björk, S., and B. Wohlfarth 2001

¹⁴C Chronostratigraphic Techniques in Paleolimnology. In Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments. Volume 1. Basin Analysis, Coring, and Chronological Techniques, edited by W. M. Last and J. P. Smol, pp. 205-245. Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research Volume 1. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

MacDonald, G. M., R. P. Beukens, and W. E. Kieser 1991

Radiocarbon Dating of Limnic Sediments: A Comparative Analysis and Discussion. Ecology 72:1150-1155.
AEU SCI QH 540 E19

MacDonald, G. M., R. P. Beukens, W. E. Kieser, and D. H. Vitt 1987

Comparative Radiocarbon Dating of Terrestrial Plant Macrofossils and Aquatic Moss from the "Ice-Free Corridor" of Western Canada. Geology 15:837-840.
AEU SCI QE 1 G3455

Taylor, R. E. 1987

Radiocarbon Dating: A Handbook for Archaeologists. Academic Press, New York, USA. 212 pages.
AEU HSS CC 78 T245

Taylor, R. E. 2000

Fifty Years of Radiocarbon Dating. American Scientist 88(January-February 2000):60-67.
AEU SCI Q 1 A51 A brief history of the technique, in particular the research on the relationship between C¹⁴ and time (the De Vries effect). Discrepancies highlighted by comparison with calendrical ages from tree-rings. Now goes back to 11,800 years (Irish oak, German oak and pine). Differences are not regular through time but vary. Comparison with ²³⁴U/²³²Th ratios from corals allows calibration to around 24,000 yr BP. Advent of AMS in late 1970s - smaller samples, shorter count times, but still limited to around 50,000 yr BP because of practical problems of sample preparation. Discusses direct dating by AMS of human skeleton material that was thought to be pre-Clovis - none so far yielded ages older than 11,000 yr BP. A useful historical review article.

Wang, Y., R. Amundson, and S. Trumbore 1996

Radiocarbon Dating of Soil Organic Matter. Quaternary Research 45:282-288.
AEU SCI QE 696 Q24

Wilson, M. C. 1993

Radiocarbon Dating in the Ice-Free Corridor: Problems and Implications. In The Palliser Triangle: A Region in Time and Space, edited by R. W. Barendregt, M. C. Wilson and F. J. Jankunis, pp. 165-206. The University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
AEU SCI QE 696 P168 1993